Upcoming lecture on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body

As part of Religious Diversity Week, Harrison Kleiner will give a presentation called ‘Religion and Sex: John Paul II’s Theology of the Body’ on Tuesday (March 17) at 6pm in the TSC Sunburst Lounge.

I hope the talk will be of some interest to not only those interested in religion, but to philosophers generally. JPII’s phenomenological as well as personalist leanings are on full display in the ToB, and I see shades of Levinas and the pomo focus on the ‘gift’ throughout.

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About Kleiner

Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Utah State University. I teach across the curriculum, but am most interested in continental philosophy, ancient and medieval philosophy as well as Catholic thought, all of which might be summed up as an interest in the ressourcement tradition (returning in order to make progress). I also enjoy spending time thinking about liberal education and its ends.

4 thoughts on “Upcoming lecture on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body”

I’m really glad this idea worked out, it has the potential for a real kickass showing. I wish I could attend but I will busy then. I think Tom of the Religious Studies club will be recording this but can anyone else? I think it would be a great addition to the blog if it were possible, and if Kleiner is willing.

Perhaps I should attend anyway. I can be there in case some heckler or untermensch with their knickers in a twist decide to get out of hand, and I can make sure they’re properly ‘incapacitated.’

I know Kleiner has been expressing here and other places a bit of fatigue regarding the antics of provocation minded ‘puppies’ (Plato reference), but this really has a chance of having a healthy audience who are willing to listen, and to be a fascinating springboard for discussion. Knock em dead.

Well, JPII’s Theology of the Body is incredibly interesting. But, Jon, I can make no promises that MY presentation of it will be all that interesting! I am actually still deciding what to do. Since the audience will likely no next to nothing about the topic, I am leaning toward ‘broad introduction’ instead of a more specific analysis of particular issues.

Yes, I did balk at presenting on something that was a built-in battle (a Catholic’s response to Nz, etc). Those kinds of topics are interesting and good, but I am getting tired of spending all of my philosophy time in battles. As I remarked some time ago regarding ‘blogologuing’, it is sometimes good and useful to retreat to friendlier confines where one can explore one’s own tradition (unfortunately I know very few local Catholic philosophers!).
Of course, talking about sex and religion might be as controversial as it gets, so who knows what I might be in for!

I have to admit I hate being recorded. When something is being preserved, I become self-aware in a way that I’m not when anything I say perishes with the temporality of my voice. Besides, I don’t think anything I say is worth being preserved for posterity. Really, why would anyone want to hear a recording of me talking? Surely, of all the disagreements on this blog, that is one thing we can all agree on!!

Meta

PHILOSOPHY BOWLING RESULTS

(Explanation: some years ago we went bowling, divided into teams, and used the results to answer timeless philosophical questions. The results are as follows.)
• Is the world eternal? YES
• Do humans have contra-causal free will (i.e., can humans do otherwise)? NO
• Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? YES
• Do humans have souls? YES
• Are there natural rights? YES
• Is it morally permissible to eat meat? NO
• Is the unexamined life worth living? NO
• Is truth subjectivity? YES
• Is virtue necessary for happiness? YES
• Can a computer have a mind? YES
• Can humans know reality as it is in itself? YES
• Is hell other people? YES
• Can art be created accidentally? NO
• Can we change the past? NO
• Are numbers real? NO
• Is it always better to know the truth? YES